Fishing News
Tighter Controls Proposed to Save Threatened Fish
By The Asscociated Press
BOSTON - Fishermen would be monitored by satellite, required to immediately report their catch by e-mail and face strict fishing quotas under rules proposed by conservation groups.
The 15-page plan filed in federal court yesterday also calls for more observers on fishing boats and a reduced role for the New England Fishery Management Council - a board of fishermen, conservationists and scientists that has traditionally been a major policy-making voice.
The proposal follows last month's ruling by U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler that New England fishery managers defied federal laws to restore depleted groundfish stocks, such as cod and flounder.
The ruling almost certainly means new fishing restrictions. Some fishermen fear that will be their industry's death knell, but conservation groups say restrictions are long overdue because rampant overfishing has depleted stocks.
"Back in 1999, they knew what they needed to do. ... It just never got done," said Heather Weiner, communications director for Washington D.C.-based Oceana, which filed the suit on behalf of the conservation groups.
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